Chinese Whispers: A Journey Into Betrayal

by Jan Wong (Author)

• New

  Paperback
  2010

  $18.89

  In 1972, Jan Wong became one of only two Westerners admitted to Beijing University at the height of the Cultural Revolution. One day, a student, Yin Luoyi, sought Jan's assistance in going to the United States. Wong, then a starry-eyed Maoist, reported Yin to the authorities. Yin promptly disappeared. Now, thirty-three years later, Wong returns to Beijing to search for the woman who has haunted her conscience. She hopes to apologise, perhaps somehow to try to make amends. At the very least, she wants to find out whether Yin has survived. Preoccupied by the past, fascinated by China's present and future, Jan Wong searches out old friends, foes and comrades in this half-familiar city, finally uncovering the truth about the woman she wronged. Chinese Whispers tells a unique and unforgettable story of communism and capitalism, of guilt and atonement, of remembering and forgetting.

• Used

  Paperback
  2009

  $3.25

  In the early 1970s, Jan Wong travelled to China to become one of only two Westerners permitted to study at Beijing University. One day a fellow student, Yin Luoyi, asked for help in getting to America. Wong, then a starry-eyed Maoist, immediately reported Yin to the authorities. Thirty-three years later, Jan Wong returns to begin her search for the person who haunts her conscience. She wants to apologise, to somehow make amends. At the very least, she wants to know if Yin survived.

  As Jan Wong hunts through the city, she finds herself travelling back through the decades, back to her experiences of the Cultural Revolution. She has changed, of course, but not as much as Beijing. One of the world's most ancient cities is now one of its most modern. In this real-life detective story, Jan Wong searches out old friends and acquaintances in this now unfamiliar city, uncovering the truth about the woman she wronged.